The Saskatoon Branch, Saskatchewan Genealogical Society (SBSGS) has opened the registration for Your Family History: Finding and Assembling the Pieces. This is the first genealogy conference to take place in Saskatoon since 2011.The SBSGS will host this weekend long event at the Park Town Hotel by bringing in speakers from across western Canada.

Participants will get to choose from sessions designed to provide them with new tools in as they research their family’s history. Early bird deadline is March 20, 2018 with only 150 spots available.

WHO: SBSGS volunteers will host 180 genealogists from across western CanadaWHAT: Your Family History: Finding and Assembling the Pieces Genealogy ConferenceWHEN: April 20 -22, 2018WHERE: Park Town Hotel, Saskatoon, SKWEBSITE:www.genealogysaskatoon.org

Questions regarding this event or requests for additional information can be directed to Linda Suveges, Conference Chair, at SGS2018Conference@sasktel.net or by calling 1-306-221-2178.

This is an all-levels tournament with the main focus on fun! Each team will play two 14-minute periods. We’ll have great prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The cost to register a team is $100 and with your team registration you will receive a free burger/hotdog and a drink and beer!

Queen Elizabeth Exhibition Haultain Community Association Winterfest Family Fun Day Join your friends and neighbours from the QEXCA neighbourhood for some family fun, skating and snacks at their annual Winterfest event!

Bring the whole family for a holiday Monday full of skating, winter fun, and hot beverages! Don’t miss this chance to make the best of your Family Day. Join us at the Cameco Meewasin Skating Rink @Nutrien Plaza from 12-4 p.m.

Leap on snowshoes, search for life under the snow, develop leadership skills and make outdoorsy friends. SaskOutdoors and Wildernook are teaming up to offer winter experiences in a fresh way.

Snowlandia is designed for young women ages 10 -12 who crave more outdoor time exploring and creating with friends. It is an exciting opportunity for young women to be active outdoors during the winter break.

More Information: If you have questions about the program, you can email contact Jana Miller at jana@wildernook.com.

Redesigning Curbside Waste
#yxetalkstrash
To help the City move towards 70% Waste Diversion by 2023, the City is in the process of redesigning Curbside Waste Collection and it needs your input. This work will help design a city-wide organics program, make appropriate modifications to capacity and frequency, and unify costs for waste management under a waste utility.

Saskatoon Talks Trash – Curbside
The City of Saskatoon is reviewing curbside collection for single family homes and we need your input. Beginning on February 12, 2018 there will be a series of public engagement opportunities to look at the priorities, preferences and any barriers that might impact a redesigned curbside waste collection system.

Please note that this phase of engagement is intended for residents with curbside collection (front street or back alley pick-up). Engagement for residents in the multi-unit collection program will take place in Spring 2018 – stay tuned!

Online Survey and Pop-up Engagements: Complete the online survey or attend a pop-up engagement. Both activities cover a parallel series of questions to understand your experiences, explore preferences and generate ideas to help the City reach 70% waste diversion by 2023.

Online Survey: The survey will be available from February 12th to March 4th at www.saskatoon.ca/yxetalkstrash and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Pop-up Engagements: Participate in a 5-10 minute activity facilitated by City staff at one of the following come-and-go style events.

Community Workshops: These 2-hour events give you the chance to dig deeper into the priorities, preferences, and any barriers that will be considered in a redesigned curbside waste collection system. Both workshops will be held at St. Martin’s United Church. Registration is preferred since the number of seats is limited. For more event information and to RSVP, visit Eventbrite.

Accessibility Waste Collection Workshop: This invite-only workshop is for stakeholders or organizations that serve or represent older adults and/or other residents who are physically challenged by the task of managing a waste cart. It will take place on March 6th from 9:30 – 11:30am at the Saskatoon Field House. Please e-mail yxetalkstrash@saskatoon.ca for registration information.

Sensemaking Saturday: This interactive half-day workshop will discuss the engagement results and proposed recommendations. When completing the online survey or attending a pop up event or workshop you will be given the chance to opt-in for a chance to be randomly selected to attend this event.

Social Media: “We’re Talking Trash Saskatoon” ads and posts will be occurring throughout the campaign. Follow the City on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to receive updates. All social media comments will be included in the engagement results.

Do you have a favorite spot that tells a story about Saskatoon – perhaps about your own neighbourhood?

Jane’s Walk, the 1st weekend in May 2018, is making the call out for walk leaders. A typical walk takes about an hour and is free. This event, now in 212 cities, is inspired by the life of Jane Jacobs, a writer, and urban activist who championed the voices of everyday people in city-building.

On Saturday, May 5, 2018 from 9 am – 12 noon, bring your old paper to the 5th annual ‘Big Shred’ in the parking lot of McClure United Church at 4025 Taylor St. (at McKercher)!

Protect against personal identity theft as your old documents go into the Shred-It company truck’s shredders! Quickly destroy old bank and utility statements, tax returns (2011 and earlier), old files, outdated documents, etc.

The service is by donation (suggested $10 per paper box, or $5 per shopping bag) to assist the McClure Place Foundation in paying down the mortgage at Amy McClure House. Protect your family by removing that unwanted … yet personal paper!

(Note: In 2017, more than 15,000 pounds of paper was safely shredded in three hours!)

The McClure Place Foundation is a charity and a non-profit organization.

2018 Arts & Science Book Club selection: The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King

The College of Arts & Science will welcome award-winning author Thomas King at two free public events on Jan. 29, 2018. Alumni, students and the wider college community are invited to read The Inconvenient Indian in anticipation of the author’s visit to campus.

My Writing Life: An Interview with Thomas King
Join journalist Betty Ann Adam for a conversation with Thomas King about his life and work.
7:00–8:30 pm
Convocation Hall, Peter MacKinnon Building, 107 Administration Pl.

About Thomas King:
Thomas King is an award-winning writer whose fiction includes Green Grass, Running Water; Truth and Bright Water and The Back of the Turtle, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award. His non-fiction book The Truth About Stories won the Trillium Book Award, while The Inconvenient Indian won the B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the RBC Taylor Prize. A member of the Order of Canada and the recipient of an award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Thomas King has taught at the University of Lethbridge and was chair of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota before moving to the University of Guelph, where he taught until he retired. He lives in Guelph with his partner, Helen Hoy.

Archives Week is celebrated annually during the first full week of February.
Events featured during past Archives Weeks have included phone-ins shows on Radio; celebrity reading events, open houses and evenings of films in archives across Saskatchewan or of archival value to the province, a screening of the 1973 Saskatchewan-made film Paperback Hero was an example.

The “Archives Pavilion” at the Saskatoon Heritage Festival has been a regular feature in Saskatoon, but other events in communities including Cut Knife, Humboldt, LaRonge, Lloydminster, Melfort, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Regina, St. Isidore de Bellevue, Shaunavon, Swift Current, Wilcox and many more across the province.

Archives Week will continue to be an annual event, celebrated during the first full week of February starting on the Sunday.

“Night at the Roxy: Archival Variety Show,”
February 8th, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at 320 20th Street West, Saskatoon, featuring readings, films, and an interactive display from the Western Development Museum. The fourth film in the Provincial Archives’ video series “From the Prairies to the Trenches” will be shown at the event

The 2018 Saskatoon Heritage Festival, February 4th, afternoon, at the Western Development Museum, 2610 Lorne Avenue, Saskatoon.